18 Fun Indoor Activities Perfect for Your Autistic Child
It’s one of those days when being outside isn’t an option. It’s too rainy, too snowy, too cold, or just plain too much for your kiddo. You’re looking for indoor activities for your autistic child and you’ve come to the right place.
I get it. You probably want ideas on how to keep your child entertained, learning, happy, quiet, and not tethered to a screen for the next 8 hours. You want the same things I want for Sean (my son who is also autistic) when days like this come around: a plan that will make the day easier for all of us.
3 Tips to Help Your Child Play
Give it Time
Maybe, like me, the word “play” triggers so many feelings when it comes to your autistic child. When I think about Sean’s relationship with play, I feel frustrated, proud, scared, excited, and so many other emotions all at once.
When Sean was young, all he wanted to do was move his body. His favorite way to play was to climb…up, down, across anything he could find…over and over…find ways to make it more challenging (and dangerous) each time. I would get frustrated and nervous every time he got stuck in one of these loops, holding my breath and waiting for an injury.
We sought all the usual therapies: OT, ABA, speech. Looking back, I see so clearly something I didn’t see then: Sean’s play skills were something that would come with time. Like so much of his development, he was on his own timeline and his own journey. I’ve learned to release my expectations and allow him to take the time it takes to develop new skills. Over time, he’s learned to play in safer ways and when to rest his body with a quiet activity. We celebrate the wins (especially any time he shows novelty in play) and don’t punish for atypical play.
IF you’re worried and frustrated, rest easy. Especially if you are navigating a new diagnosis. Give your child the time they need to develop new skills and celebrate the wins long the way.
2. Embrace the Power of Choice
Just because we think we have great ideas for activities for our children, doesn’t mean THEY think they are great ideas. Right?! The truth is the #1 best thing you can do to get your child’s buy-in is give them the power of CHOICE.
Our kids have most of their decisions made for them daily, but they also need to learn to make good decisions on their own. This begins with us giving them the power of choice. Not only does choice help our children gain critical problem-solving skills, but it also helps them feel empowered. And the more empowered they feel, the more likely they are to do what needs to be done with ease (and no tantrums!).
As you read through these indoor activity ideas below, consider how you proactively gain participation by giving them a choice. Maybe it’s the choice between one activity or another, or the choice of what character they want to be in a game, or the choice of what they shape to build/draw. The more our children feel their own power of choice, the more likely they are to play in peace.
3. Make New Things Familiar
When you want to expand your child’s horizons and options, simply giving them something new to play with doesn’t often work. Our neurodiverse kids like routine, familiarity, and repetition. Change can cause dysregulation, but learning to navigate change is also an important skill for them to learn.
One way to help is to introduce new items to a favorite game, or a new activity to a favorite play theme. When we model how something new can be merged familiar, we are creating a safe way for our children to explore and expand.
I remember one time I did this with Sean and his cars. One of his favorite things was playing with his cars on the carpet. He will roll them back and forth again and again. One day, I brought the train tracks to the carpet and built a bridge over a “lake.” I took a car and drove it over the lake and circled back to where it began. Then I invited him to “follow the leader.” And before long he was engaging with the cars in a new way and expanding his play.
This is such a simple example of the power of taking small steps towards big changes. All of this is also possible if your child is non-verbal.
Relationship-Building Activities
One of the things I talk about in my course for parents and caregivers is the critical importance of strengthening the parent-child relationship. As parents, and caregivers to neurodiverse children, we often have a LOT on our plates. It’s easy to be consumed by everything that must get done. The endless appointments and the mental load of parenthood can make it near impossible to find time to simply bond with our kids. Here are some ways you can create some intentional time to connect with your child.
Experiments
Science activities can be a terrific way to explore with your child. There is nothing like learning together to create a bond. Consider what your child likes and any sensory issues. For instance, if your child does not like to have messy hands, making homemade playdough might not be for them. If they love bubbles, something like this kit could be a hit.
2. Building
Building something together is an especially good way to promote teamwork and bonding. Large Melissa & Doug blocks are great for younger kids. This Hexbug Zone is a recent favorite. We had so much fun building it together.
3. Sharing Space
This is not an activity, per se, but this is often the first advice I give any parent who is looking to connect and build a stronger relationship with their child. Simply meeting your child where they are and sharing space with them is powerful. Resist the urge to ask a lot of questions. Just be present and comment on what they are doing like, “That track is super-fast!” or “Wow, you have a lot of animals in your farm!” Better still, dive into what your child is doing and play alongside of them. This may seem simple, but one of the most valuable things we can give our children is our undivided attention.
If you need some help with this, and/or are looking for a personal approach to help your neurodivergent child manage challenging behavior, gain more life skills, or improve their communication, I’ve got you. I would love to get to know a bit about you and your family. Schedule a free Discovery Call and we’ll see if parenting coaching is a good match for you.
Quiet Activities
Many of our kids need to move their bodies and spend a lot of time seeking out sensory input. More on that later. For now, let’s consider a few activities that are for the quiet moments… the downtime when our children need to rest their bodies but keep their minds engaged.
Reading
Regardless of the age of your child, encouraging a love of reading can go a long way in helping their success in other areas. There are many ways to boost your child’s literacy, but one of my favorites is to read together. Early on, this will be you reading to your child, and later it can be them reading to you. One of our favorite series is “What Would Danny Do?” because they teach the power of choice.
2. Electronic Games
A question I get all the time from parents is, “Are electronic games bad for my child?” My short answer is, “No.” That said, moderation is important, and setting expectations is critical. Here are some tips to navigating screentime with your child:
Set a specific time for screen-playtime so your child knows when to expect that it’s available. And set a specific amount of time by setting a timer they can hear.
Communicate a plan for transitioning out of screen time. In our home, we talk about what to do when the time is up, “Take a deep breath and walk the tablet to its home.”
Give transitional warnings like, “5 more minutes.” One additional hack we use: when the timer goes off and we can tell Sean is not ready for the transition we will prompt him to ask for one more minute. We do this once. After that minute, we follow through with the transition. This helps teach self-advocacy to say, “I’m not ready.”
3. Drawing & Art
Open-ended creative play like drawing is a good match for many kids. If your children like more structure, consider this thumbprint drawing book, or a how-to-draw book like this. If 3-dimensional art is more their jam, try air-dry clay. The colors and tactile play make this a hit with so many neurodiverse kids.
Sensory Integration Activities
Our neurodiverse kids tend to love sensory input. If yours are anything like my son, they like to move as much as possible. This can be tricky indoors. The key is providing the right toy/activity for your child and space. This website is one of my favorites for exploring sensory games.
It can be helpful to understand what sort of sensory input your child needs, and then match the activity accordingly.
Here are some examples (keeping in mind many children seek more than one of these options):
Tactile Stimulation
This is stimulation that activates the nerves under the surface of the skin, and usually refers to any activity that uses touch to promote a positive experience. Hands-down my favorite activity for these sensory seekers is kinetic sand. It’s open-ended, creative, and deeply satisfying to run through their hands.
2. Vestibular Stimulation
This is often what people refer to when they talk about “stimming.” The vestibular system is located within the inner ear and responds to movement of the head. This can look like any activity that moves the whole body and allows the body to respond to gravity. Jumping, falling, rocking, swinging, etc. If this is your child, setting up an indoor play option like these ladders can be very helpful.
3. Proprioceptive Stimulation
Anything that provides deep pressure to the muscles and joints is proprioceptive stimulation. Weight-bearing activities, even just carrying piles of books to build a fort, can be very effective. Swings that allow for pressure and movement are especially popular and can provide a “happy place” for your child indoors.
Social Skills & Communication-Building Activities
If you have more than one child, indoor days can be more about encouraging your children to play together than anything else. For some, depending on age and preference, this may look like parallel play. For others, this may be your children actively playing a game together.
As the sibling of a neurodiverse brother, and the mother of both a neurotypical and neurodiverse child, I am especially concerned about my children’s’ relationship with each other.
Building Together
Marble runs, soft rocket launchers (in the basement), pretend kitchen play are all great options for kids of different ages to play together. I especially like these activities because they are also friendly for children with AAC devices.
2. Social Games
There are many games that are meant to be played together. One of our favorites is Jenga. It combines building and togetherness, and with some modifications it works well for our family. We can typically only play one round the traditional way before Sean loses interest. Instead of ending the game, we use the Jenga blocks to build a city that can expand his play with cars. This way he gets to move on to one of his favorite activities (cars) and we continue play game time.
3. Baking & Cooking
Of course this will depend on the age of your children, but baking/cooking can be a good way to bring siblings together. Mixing, measuring, whisking, and scooping can be shared tasks. One tip: Choose a recipe you are very familiar with and have all the ingredients laid out before inviting your children into the kitchen. Above all else: be patient and embrace the mess!
Task Boxes
Task box activities are often used in the classroom but can also be a helpful way to organize play at home, especially for an indoor play day. A task box is simply a container that holds all of the necessary parts of an activity. They are designed for independent play and learning and have several benefits. I especially love that they can be created to meet the specific needs of a child and help them develop an essential skill. They also help build concentration and focus.
A task box can be made from many different things, and may be used as closed-ended activity, an open-ended activity, or as part of an activity schedule.
Close-Ended Activities
Books, puzzles, mazes, shape-sorters, and any activity that has a specific result or end is a close-ended activity. For these task boxes, you would simply put the game and any corresponding pieces into a box (shoe boxes work great for this!).
2. Open-Ended Activities
These boxes contain activities than have no specific result and are especially good for art projects and creative thinking. Coloring supplies, stamps with ink pads and paper, toothpick & marshmallow building are examples of open-ended task boxes for younger kids. Consider using a prompt in a box with paper and crayons like, “Imagine you went to the moon. Draw a picture of what it would look like.”
3. Independent Activity Schedule
This is when you place various task boxes around the room and your child moves among them independently. They might move on from a close-ended task when they have completed it, or you can give them a timer for an open-ended task, so they know when to move on.
3 Things to Avoid When Encouraging Your Child to Play
Play is an incredibly important part of our child’s development. It contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of our children. While it may seem like the most natural thing in the world, it can also be the source of frustration in many families. Whether it’s learning how to connect with your child through play, promoting their independence, or encouraging learning, I hope that the ideas from this list have given you a starting place for indoor activities to do with your child.
As you encourage communication, problem-solving, and development through play with your kids, consider these three things to avoid:
Changing up the play too frequently
We often want our kids to continually be learning and growing and doing different activities. However, it’s important to remember that children love routine, and our neurodiverse kids especially need the familiar to be comfortable. Instead of encouraging them to move from one activity to another, try helping your child expand their current play. Add a new component to the activity they are already doing.
2. Over-controlling the play
As parents, we must be in control most of the time. It can be very difficult to let go of control in small ways and allow our children to have some autonomy. Play is a great place to do this. Instead of defining exactly how your child “should” be playing a specific game/activity, allow them some freedom to play the way they want. Our children will gravitate towards playing in ways that give them a sense of comfort, body organization, and happiness. Learn from these moments instead of controlling them.
3. Construct every activity as a learning moment
The truth is, all play presents an opportunity for learning. Whether it’s learning a specific skills like math or spelling or phonics, or it’s a social skill like sharing or listening. Remember that you don’t have to construct a learning moment during play time. Allow some activities to be there purely for fun and creative exploration. Your kids will be learning all along the way in their own way.
I share these suggestions based on my own experiences and expertise, but I also recognize the uniqueness of each child and the absence of one-size-fits-all solutions. Take what resonates with you and disregard the rest. Most importantly, remember that you have support and are not facing this journey alone.
**If you’re feeling overwhelmed with the thought of helping your child play, you are not alone. “Play” seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world, but our kids often need help finding their way AND it can be especially difficult for us adults to remember the basics of playing when we’re wearing our “parent” hat.
If you need some help with this, and/or are looking for a personal approach to help your neurodivergent child manage challenging behavior, gain more life skills, or improve their communication, I’ve got you. I would love to get to know a bit about you and your family. Schedule a free Discovery Call and we’ll see if parenting coaching is a good match for you.
Have you downloaded my free guide yet? More Listening, Please: 5 Tools to Help Your Neurodiverse Child Listen is for every parent who wants to help their children become better listeners. Because more cooperation and listening = a more peaceful home.
